Jedi Junket 2 – The Mark Of Hamill

We’ve been covering Guillermo Del Toro’s ever-expanding Peter Rabbit adaptation for a while now. Hey, Guillermo, how about a set visit?

A significant portion of our cautious excitement for Episode VII comes from the people involved: Mr. John Williams, Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, and the big three themselves: Ford. Fisher, and, delightfully, Hamill.

Here’s why I like Mark Hamill: you listen to the dude talk, you realize; he’s just as into this stuff as we are. He’s one of us! Gooba-gabba, one of us!

Legend has it that while Harrison Ford took the biggest payday he could negotiate for the original Star Wars, Mark Hamill received one of every tie-in item. That’s a lot of Star Wars merchandise. Like, a lot. Like, even accounting for donating some to worthy causes, selling some, and giving some to your kids, dude still has a sith-ton of merch just there, for his enjoyment.

Hamill was recently on Rob Paulsen’s Talkin’ Toons podcast, and naturally talk turned to his career-defining role (yes, even more than Luke Skywalker at this point) as The Joker. Hamill talked about how, when he heard a Batman animated series was in the works, lobbied his agent to get him an audition. Not even for The Joker, he wanted to read for a one-off character. Just because he loves Batman. And loving Batman has been very good for Mark Hamill.

When you’re casting Star Wars, I’m not saying that loving Batman is a prerequisite. But it certainly can’t hurt.